Of Ramen and Englishmen
by elementalinfinity
Summary: Noodle Takes 2-D for a very interesting walk.... R&R! Noodlex2-D


Between the fingers of one hand lay an Urban Decay bag. Between the fingers of the other, 2-D's fingers. Recording for 2 weeks straight had become tough on her, so she thanked the gods that her bangs _always_ covered her eyes, for they now hid large, swollen under eye bags.

2-D walked alongside Noodle. Same as usual, he figured; they were holding hands, which was an unprovoked change. But, 2-D being 2-D, he didn't really pay any notice, and just went with it. Despite his absent-minded outlook on a lot of things, he always somehow just... knew things... some roundabout logic in interpreting his surroundings; while disregarding the hand-holding, he knew that Noodle had been exhausted from recording, and the fact that she decided to walk with him, in a ghetto-district, of all places, meant something was up. Non-chalantly, he thumbed the mp3 player they both listened to, observing his surroundings in an almost child-like manner.

: From under the same bangs that hid her exhaustion Noodle peeked at 2-D, whom at the moment was absent mindedly looking around. She then took his hand in a firmer grip and tugged on him as she broke into a jog. Without knowing, 2-D followed suit, following the blue-haired guitarist into a nearby ramen shop.

With only a few moments to process it in his mind, his surroundings changed; the light of day turned to the light of fluorescence, the heat of day turned to the A.C. of indoors, and the smell of garbage turned to the smell of food... kind of. He caught a glimpse of excitement from under Noodle's bangs, and he instinctively reached for his wallet, pulling it out by the chain. Whatever Murdoc taught him about life seemed to be engraved into his mind, but the philosophy of "it's all about you, mate..." seemed to drift away.

Noodle's mouth gave her away: she was up to something, and she was excited about it. The shop owner greeted her in a traditional manner, which she returned promptly. With a quick conversation in Japanese, Noodle followed the middle aged woman into another room past a sliding divisor, away from the rest of the ramen- devouring customers. The woman smiled at Noodle, then left the two of them in the traditional room, complete with a traditional table and cushions. She then slipped her hand from 2-D's and proceeded to sit, which was in reality more of a plop down than anything else.

2-D analyzed the room in his usual manner; He quietly marveled at the artistic design of the room. It was a diamond in the rough, to place it lightly in comparison with the ghetto they had just walked through. All the pieces of the puzzle lay before him; she was with him, despite her exhaustion, they walked into a rather convenient Ramen shop, and she spoke with the owner as if they knew each other. He knew this was planned, he had that much, so far. It would always be the last step that would stump someone like 2-D... why? By now, his head was cocked fifteen degrees to his right, with a perplexed look on his face. He simply stood there, aware, but, at the same time, unaware of his surroundings

Pulling her sunglasses out of her hair, Noodle let the rest of her hit the ground, which was rather comfortable to her at the moment. Without thinking about it twice, she had unconsciously twirled her I HEART KYOTO tee between her fingers, pulling it up, revealing her stomach and a slight bit of her bra. Slightly angry and uncomfortable, she then proceeded to yank off her high tops, revealing monkey socks. Smiling to herself, she pulled her bangs out of her eyes and looked at 2-D, whom curiously enough was still standing by the door.

2-D pretended he wasn't interested in what he was seeing; he walked casually to the other end of the traditional table, sitting 'crisscrossapplesaucehandsinyourlap' style, or something like that. Noodle always perplexed 2-D. He knew he was interested in her, but... not in the same way he has seen Murdoc become interested, or even with any of the numerous women he's been with, himself. Had she been someone like, say, his most recent ex, he'd be on top of her, helping her rip off the rest of her clothes. She sent a different vibe into his mind, but he couldn't place it... she went into a different category, somehow... was it because she was in the band? He didn't know...

There he was, again, head 15 degrees to the left, lost in thought, yet again...

Sitting back up, Noodle pulled out her cell and spoke some Japanese into it, something that sounded like commands. Not even five minutes later, the same Japanese woman from the door arrived with two bowls of Ramen and several cups of tea. Placing them down, the woman looked at Noodle, whom at the moment had a slight pout. As the woman left the room, Noodle picked up her chopsticks and pushed a bowl towards 2-D. Breaking the silence, she asked in a cute voice: "Gonna eat?"

"Eh. Can't kill me, I s'pose." He picked up a set of chopsticks, and analyzed them intently, moving his head to eye them from different angles. He attempted, pitifully, at picking up a single noodle from the bowl with the strange sticks. Giving up after a few tries, he flung the chopsticks to the side, raised his hand, and tapped his middle and index finger together twice, to imitate chopsticks, and proceeded to pick up a stream of noodles from the bowl between the two fingers, awkwardly slurping them into his mouth. The loose connection was made, at that point. He was eating noodles. The image of his head between the petite guitarists legs popped into his head, and the question arose again... why didn't he feel the same way about her as he did with most women? The perplexed vocalist stared at her blankly, a confused look on his face.

"You gonna finish that?"  
The sound of Noodle's voice snapped 2-D back into slight consciousness, making him put down the bowl. Noodle then proceeded to take the bowl and place it atop her own, finishing her friend's meal. As she ate, 2-D stared at her, intently thinking, scanning her for some clue that would aid him in ending his confusion. He looked at her hair. Her tinted skin. Her tiny fingers.

But no avail.

...Could it be that? That one thing, he couldn't quite remember the word for it... He remembered, he asked Murdoc about it once, but he didn't get much of an answer. He even asked Russel, but he just stared at him until 2-D walked out. Maybe Noodle knew?

"...'Ey, Noodle? What's love?" He asked, cocking his head to the right, again.

Noodle looked up from her bowl, a single noodle dangling from her mouth.  
"Hm? What's love?"  
She slurped the noodle into her mouth, and then proceeded to speak.  
"Well, love is a complicated emotion. It's when you care for someone deeply." A slight blush rose to her cheeks as she muttered something in Japanese to herself.  
"It's really delicate, and very special to have and to give. Why do you ask?"

2-D saw Noodle getting red in the face. Did he say something wrong?  
"Is it contagious? What do you do when you get it? I hope you don't catch it from me... Sorry, I didn't know I had it..."  
He put his hand behind his head, scratching nervously. He didn't want to see her sick. He didn't even know he was sick. Was it deadly? Was it a virus?

Noodle then began to panic.  
"No! No, not at all. There's nothing to worry about. If someone catches it, then...."  
Noodle went silent and put her head down.  
"Then.....t-then....."

Seeing Noodle's head drop down, 2-D reached his hand to the floor at the side of the table, using that as leverage to jump over to her. He curiously pulled the hair that now draped her expression out of the way, staring at her, his mouth slightly open amidst his curiosity.

"What do I do, Noodle?"

She looked straight into 2-D's black, pupil-less eyes and with all the courage that she had responded.  
"You hope that the person who caught it wants to be sick with you.... and never get healed."  
Her hands dropped to her lap in a very lady-like fashion as she twiddled with the ring on her pinky, hoping that 2-D was no longer looking at her, seeing her as he had never seen her before.

At her left side, 2-D braced his right hand on her right shoulder, and his left hand on her outer-thigh. He placed his ear on her chest, listening for her heart-beat.  
"Are you sick, Noodle?" He said with a worried inflection in his voice.

At that instant, Noodle froze.  
Having him so close.... she only prayed that her heartbeat wouldn't get any faster.  
She then mustered the courage to place her right hand against the back of 2-D's head, running her fingers between blue locks of hair.  
"Hai.... I am sick.... 2-D-kun....."

He turned his head up to look at her face.  
"What do people do when they get sick like this? Seems kind of serious. You sure we should get you to a hospital? You're heart rate was pickin' up..."

Noodle let out a deep sigh.  
"No 2-D.... I don't need a hospital... the treatment I need can be given by someone else only..."  
She stopped to look down at him.

"That's only if you're sure you're sick too"

He held his position there, staring up at her, with great concern. "Well... where can I get the treatment, and how do I give it?"

She gave him a tiny smile as she brushed his cheek.  
"Like this..."  
And with that, he found his lips covered with hers, and her palm firmly against his cheek.  
Noodle brought her face back up from his to find him still staring at her, just as intently as before.

"I..."  
He paused, confused. He didn't feel cured. He still felt very strangely about her. His problem still wasn't solved.  
"I... I think it's like cancer... Its gonna take a lot of treatment." He was desperate, not only to relieve his confusion, but to cure her, as well. He didn't want her sick. She didn't act the same. She acted very frail and nervous. Filled with resolve, he pulled his head up to hers, holding his lips tightly against hers, for as long as he could. Amidst this motion, he also found himself sitting up more, and laying her down. He wound up on all fours next to the now laying Noodle, his lips still connected with hers. He was intent on curing Noodle, the one he cared about... His eyes widened slightly, at that thought. Was that the difference between her and the other women...?

2-D's dark eyes were met by Noodle's, who from the shock still hadn't closed her eyes.  
She couldn't believe what was happening. Him. Her. Now.  
Noodle's heart felt like it was about to burst out of her chest; but should she tell him? Why was he so intent on "curing" her? There were a million questions she wanted to ask, but would he answer? The only response she could formulate at the moment was to grab a fistful of his t-shirt and hope that he would give her the chance to speak.

He pulled away from her, confused. He looked into her eyes, and spoke,"Did I give you too much..?" He didn't think about that... Overdose. That would've made things worse. He felt very stupid, now. But who could blame him? He didn't go to medical school, he didn't think about things like that...

With slightly teary eyes, she looked up at 2-D.  
"No.... you haven't given me enough.... and neither have I..."  
"Would you like to cure each other?"  
Noodle turned her head almost instantly after that thought.  
"I-I mean.... that is.... if you want to. And at that moment, the feeling of stupidity was mutual.

"Of course I want to. I don't like seeing you sick. When you're sick, you're not happy... And that makes me sad."  
His lips fell slowly onto hers again. He kissed her, as if it were any other kiss. Slowly, however, the feeling that it was just another kiss melted away, as more and more passion mounted into it. _"It must be working..." _He thought to himself, as his hand caressed hers. She would be better soon, and that gave him great solace.

All of Noodle's muscles, from the top of her neck down to her ankles seemed to relax with that second kiss. And before she even knew it, her legs were wrapped around his waist and her free hand was on his neck. Even though this was their first encounter, Noodle's body reacted naturally to the feeling of 2-D's fingers and lips, as if she had felt them all her life. And him.... she was amazed at how comfortably he kissed her, how easy it was for him to nibble on her lips...

2-D's eyes had been long closed, by now. With so much passion driving through him, he nearly forgot that this was Noodle, as he slowly slid his free hand down her left side, from her breast to her buttock, massaging her, gently.

Noodle's hands were going some of her own work reaching up 2-D's shirt, curious fingers running up and down new skin. Under her shirt, she began to feel her nipples becoming erect from his touch, hardening from every complete stroke.  
_Could she want him like that? Even though they'd only been together for 20 minutes?_

He was about to comment on how dirty she was, as he was accustomed to, of ladies past, until he opened his eyes, and realized that he was about to commence that _act _on her. His eyes shot wide-open, and he nearly jumped straight off her, his heart-rate shooting up, his breathing becoming labored. What had he done? He was about to do something to her that he did to the women he didn't care about... Doing that meant he didn't care about her... that wasn't true! It wasn't!!

_Nearly as quickly, Noodle shot straight up and held both of 2-D's hands between her own.  
"2-D?! What's wrong sweetie?"  
2-D did not respond, his breathing becoming heavier and his hands beginning to shake. She saw no other option but to pull his face onto her chest and having him listen to her heartbeat._

_"You see 2-D? It's normal. Everything will be ok.... I promise."_

He was now visibly trembling. He was ashamed of himself, for what he would have done. "B-but I care about you, N-Noodle... What I was about to do... That only happens with the girls I didn't care about... you're different, Noodle... I care..." A small tear welled up in his right eye, falling slowly.

"...I care..."

_Noodle closed her eyes, then tenderly placed her head atop his.  
"I know you do.... I know you do..."  
She repeated these words softly to him, caressing his ears delicately as she did so.  
"I know you do..."_

_Noodle smiled to herself, placing her hands on 2-D's. "I know. and I appreeciate that."_

She then inhaled deeply and in the same breath she exhaled, she whispered:  
"I love you, 2-D"

_"I love you, 2-D..."_  
Those words echoed in his fragile mind. Everything he once believed in, the words and lessons he took from Murdoc... were they lies? Was Murdoc not his hero? Should he not be taking in his influence...? And those words... Where were they from? He had heard those words once, before... Maybe it was the movie the gang all watched... Yeah... He remembered when those words radiated from the screen, he had met eyes with Noodle, and she immediately looked away. Was that it...?

"I... I love you, too, Noodle..."


End file.
